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Chapter 20 Civil Liberties & Civil Rights

Chapter 20 Civil Liberties & Civil Rights. The Bill of Rights: A Charter of Liberties Nationalizing the Bill of Rights Civil Liberties Civil Rights. CIVIL LIBERTIES do not equal . . . Civil Rights.

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Chapter 20 Civil Liberties & Civil Rights

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  1. Chapter 20 Civil Liberties& Civil Rights • The Bill of Rights: A Charter of Liberties • Nationalizing the Bill of Rights • Civil Liberties • Civil Rights

  2. CIVIL LIBERTIES do not equal . . . Civil Rights • CIVIL LIBERTIES are freedoms that are guaranteed to the individual. Civil rightsare policies that extend basic rights to groups historically subject to discrimination • CIVIL LIBERTIES are restraints on government. Civil rights declare what the government must do or provide.

  3. The Bill of Rights:A Charter of Liberties • Article I of the Constitution includes • Writ of Habeas Corpus • Bill of Attainder • Ex Post facto Laws • How does the Bill of Rights provide for individual liberties? • What are the differences between civil liberties and civil rights?

  4. Nationalizing the Bill of Rights(The Incorporation Issue) • The U.S. Supreme Court began applying the Bill of Rights to state action by utilizing the Fourteenth Amendment. • The Court selectively applies the liberties on a case by case basis.

  5. Incorporating the Bill of Rights into the 14th Amendment

  6. The First Amendment:Freedom of Religion • The establishment clause provides that Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion. Issues include — school prayer, nativity scenes, Pledge of Allegiance, bible class, evolution, The 10 Commandments, private school vouchers. • Lemon v. Kurzman 1971 – Lemon Test. (secular, religiously neutral, avoid government religious entanglement.) • The free exercise clause protects the right to believe and practice whatever religion one chooses. Issues include — polygamy, religious holidays, — peyote and work.

  7. The First Amendment:Freedom of Speech • “Congress shall make no law . . . Abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press. . . .” • Not an Absolute Freedom • Strict scrutiny places the burden on the government to prove that a restriction on speech or press is constitutional. — Speech that presents a clear and present danger is not protected by the First Amendment. (Sedition and “fighting words”) — Libel and slander is not protected. — Obscenity is not protected. — Symbolic speech (nonverbal, e.g. flag burning) is protected speech.

  8. Freedom of the Press • Clear and Present Danger Test • a threat to public order • Preferred-Position Doctrine • government must prove limiting is absolutely necessary • Prior Restraint • censorship and national security

  9. Freedom of Assembly • Parades, marches, protests, demonstrations. • Court allows requiring permits. • Assembling versus loitering. • KKK, Nazis, Crips and Bloods.

  10. The 2nd Amendment:The Right to Bear Arms • “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep an bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

  11. The 3rd Amendment:Quartering Troops • During peacetime with owners consent • During war only by previously established laws.

  12. Due Process of Law • In whatever it does, government must act fairly and in accord with established rules. It may not act unfairly, arbitrarily or unreasonably. • 4th Amendment - investigation and evidence collection • 5th , 6th and 7th Amendments – trial phase • 8th Amendment – punishment phase • 14th Amendment

  13. Parts of Due Process Substantive due process Procedural due process The What… Substance or philosophical intent • The How… • Legal procedures of government • Rochin v. Cali • Police violated procedure in obtaining drug conviction

  14. Police Power • The police power is the authority of each State to act to protect and promote the public health, safety, morals, and general welfare. • Each State has the power to safeguard the well-being of its people • Conflict between individual rights and the needs of society

  15. Police powers… 1. Health-States limit the sale of alcohol, tobacco and pollution. 2. Safety- require seatbelts, baby seats and regulate texting and driving. 3. Morality?

  16. Drunk Driving questions? • Does requiring a person submit to a sobriety test “breathalyzer or blood sample” violate a person’s right of self-incrimination? • The fact that many legal matters and judgments are made public, do you believe that they violate a person’s privacy?

  17. The 4th Amendment:Rights of the Criminally Accused • “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause . . . .” • Failure to comply with the Fourth Amendment restricts the use of evidence pursuant to the exclusionary rule (Mapp v. Ohio)

  18. Probable Cause • Probable cause is the legal standard by which a police officer has the right to make an arrest, conduct a personal or property search, or obtain a warrant for arrest. • While many factors contribute to a police officer’s level of authority in a given situation, probable cause requires facts or evidence that would lead a reasonable person to believe that a suspect has committed a crime.

  19. Probable Cause cont.. • Officers can arrest a person in a public place without a warrant, provided they have probable cause to believe that person has committed or is about to commit a crime • Person must be brought before a judge within 48hrs • Cali v. Acevedo: law enforcement can search a vehicle without warrant that they believe holds evidence

  20. Exclusionary Rule • Evidence that is obtained as the result of an illegal act by police cannot be used at the trial of the person from whom it was seized. • This includes physical evidence and confessions.

  21. The 5th Amendment:Rights of the Criminally Accused • Individuals have the right to a grand jury to determine the merit of criminal charges. • A person cannot be tried for the same crime twice (double jeopardy). • Individuals have the right to remain silent and cannot be compelled to testify against themselves in a criminal case. • Property cannot be taken by the government without just compensation.

  22. The 6th Amendment:The Right to Counsel • “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy: • the right to a speedy and public trial • confronted with witnesses • the assistance of counsel.” • Gideon v. Wainwright establishes the right to counsel in all felony cases.

  23. The 7th Amendment • Lawsuits in amount exceeding $20, the right to trial by jury shall be preserved. • Evidence heard by jury shall only be reconsidered using appropriate common law appeals process.

  24. The 8th Amendment:Cruel and Unusual Punishment • The Eighth Amendment prohibits excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishment. • The death penalty was declared unconstitutional in 1972, but was reinstated in 1976, after procedural changes were implemented.

  25. The 9th Amendment • The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

  26. The 10th Amendment • The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

  27. Does a Suspect’s Flight From Police Justify a Stop and Search? • What is one reason to justify stop and search? • What is one reason it is not justified?

  28. The Plea • Often the ideal vision and intent of our legal system does not mirror the reality and raises questions regarding due process under the law. • http://video.pbs.org/video/2216784391/

  29. The Right to Privacy • What is the right to privacy? • How has it been derived from the Bill of Rights? • What form does the right to privacy take today?

  30. The Right to Privacy • Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) created a “zone of privacy” when it was ruled that the state of Connecticut could not prohibit the use of contraceptives. —The U.S. Supreme Court concluded that a right to privacy was created through the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth and Ninth Amendments.

  31. The Right to Privacy: Abortion • In Roe v. Wade (1973), the right to privacy was extended when the U.S. Supreme Court declared restrictive abortion statutes unconstitutional. • In Webster v. Reproductive Health Services (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court upheld restrictions on the use of public facilities for abortions. • In Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), the court narrowed the scope of Roe v. Wade. • Gonzalez v. Carhart (2007) – partial birth abortion ban.

  32. The Right to Privacy:Right to Die • Assisted suicide. • Most states say no and court agrees. • In 1997 Oregon became first state to allow assisted suicide.

  33. Civil Rights • Legal basis for civil rights • Enforcing the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment • The 14th Amendment to the Constitution is referred to as the “equal protection clause”. • “no State shall make or enforce any law which shall . . . deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”

  34. The Equal Protection Clause:Supreme Court Interpretations • The Supreme Court refused to apply the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment to private businesses in the civil rights cases (1873). • “Jim Crow” system of segregation in the south.

  35. Civil Rights:Plessy v. Ferguson • In Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), the Supreme Court upheld segregation, as long as the facilities were equal. • The doctrine of “separate but equal” was born. Legal or “de jure” segregation was the acceptable to the courts. • Sweatt v. Painter – 1950 • Texas State University for Negroes ( Created 1947) • Texas Southern University

  36. Civil Rights:Brown v. Board of Education • In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court struck down the “separate but equal” doctrine and ordered the desegregation of the nation’s public schools. • NAACP – 1909 • Thurgood Marshall and Rosa Parks

  37. Supreme Court Interpretations • Fundamental rights - constitutionally explicit • Suspect classification - race or nation origin • Strict scrutiny - compelling state interest • Intermediate scrutiny - substantially related to achieving a state goal. • Rational basis test (ordinary scrutiny) - is it a reasonable way to achieve state goals.

  38. Civil Rights after Brown v.Board of Education • The Supreme Court used “strict scrutiny” to put the burden on the state government to establish the constitutionality of its actions. • Segregation created by law (de jure) was struck down. • De facto segregation still occurs through housing patterns in existence today.

  39. Civil Rights Legislation:The Civil Rights Acts • The Civil Rights Act of 1875 was declared unconstitutional. • The Civil Rights Acts of the 1950s and 1960s were upheld on a variety of grounds, including the power to regulate interstate commerce.

  40. Desegregation Phase One • De jure versus de facto segregation • “Massive resistance” across south • Court decisions without effect • Little Rock High School - 1957 • President Eisenhower • Declares martial law • End funding to states resisting • Civil Rights Commission - 1957

  41. Civil Rights Act – 1964Phase 2 Public Accommodations Interstate Commerce Commission Busing (education phase II) Title IV Justice Department Suits Federal Grants Title VII Employment Contracts controls Equal Pay Act 1963 Voting Rights 1965 Immigration Act of 1965 War on Poverty 1966 Fair Housing Act 1968 • Equal Pay Act 1963 • Voting Rights 1965 • Immigration Act of 1965 • War on Poverty 1966 • Fair Housing Act 1968

  42. The Universalization of Civil Rights • Women and Gender Discrimination • ERA Defeated in 1982 • Latinos and Asian Americans • LULAC, MALDEF, Asian Law Caucus • Native Americans • AIM • Disabled Americans • Americans with Disabilities Act 1990 • Gays and Lesbians • Romer v.Evans (1996) • Lawrence v. Texas (2003)

  43. Affirmative Action • Affirmative action encompasses government policies or programs that seek to redress past injuries against specified groups by providing access to education and employment opportunities. • It is difficult to determine the best way to provide opportunity. — Quotas — Legal action.

  44. The Supreme Court and theBurden of Proof • In Bakke v. UC at Davis (1978), the United States Supreme Court recognized the importance of affirmative action programs, but rejected the procedures used by the University to ensure minority admissions. • Specifically, the use of quotas was found to violate the equal protection rights of Mr. Bakke.

  45. The Supreme Court and theBurden of Proof • Federal courts have weakened the impact of affirmative action over the last ten years. • The Supreme Court in the AdarandConstructors case (1995) rejected race-based preferences in government contracts. • The Fifth Circuit rejected the admissions criteria for admission to U.T. Law School in the Hopwood case (1996). • Gratz v. Bollinger (June 2003) • Grutter v. Bollinger (June 2003)

  46. Affirmative Action and American Political Values • Affirmative action efforts have contributed to the polarization of the politics of civil rights. • Americans seem split down the ideological center over the need for affirmative action.

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